I did a search here and all I found was stuff from 17 years ago. Is ABC still popular? I’ve been using religiously for 30 years and want to pass it on to friends. I use ABCMUS but it won’t load on newer windows or MAC. I tried EASYABC on both my Win and Mac and couldn’t get it to work on either one. Code errors.
Thanks,
Fred
Yes, it’s still very popular. I use EasyABC on my new Mac with no issues.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/easyabc/
There are literally thousands of tunes here in ABC format, with many being added every day. Maybe the specific tune you looked for was added 17 years ago, but anyone can add new tunes or new arrangements of other tunes.
I’m curious what tune did you search for that came up with a single version from 17 years ago?
I have Tunebook SD for ages and I use it on an iPhone 12. I have imported a load of abc tunes from Henrik Larsen and I import or copy and paste tunes from this site all the time as well. Works quite well imo.
I too use EasyABC on a Mac with no problems. Not for uploading others’ transcriptions but for creating my own.
In the grand scheme of this musical tradition, 17 years is a bat of an eyelash. Not exactly an “old” transcription. Of course, it’s still just a transcription. Better to trust your ears and a reputable aural source.
If I understand this correctly, all of your tune files on your ABC app are more than 17 years old?
One explanation could be that in the year 2005 you downloaded a whole load of files onto your computer, and each time do you go to thesession to look for tunes you’re actually looking at your own 2005 database.
Another idea is that when you do searches there’s a filter that gives you results from that year. I’ve no idea how that would work -or not work.
One of the main issues you may have now is that it will be difficult to export batches of ABC files that you have modified in the past.
I use Tunebook SD which I really like. It’s a very simple but reliable app for mobile phones.
@OP:
“all I found was stuff from 17 years ago.”
See Jeremy’s post from yesterday ( https://thesession.org/discussions/47755#comment955711 ):
"In 2022 you collectively added:
* 3,028 tune settings, of which 1,110 were new tunes"
That means three new tunes every day.
I use EasyABC 1.3.8.6 on my Desktop PC running Linux Mint. It’s very good. The Operating System was new in 2022. The previous version didn’t work all that well and was difficult to install. This one is working fine and installed easily.
Maybe you should check if you have installed the latest version.
I guess I didn’t make myself very clear. I searched this site for ABC programs and all I got from my search was one thread that was 17 years old. I am asking if there are any up to date ABC programs. I am unable to get Easy ABC to work on my Win7 or on my MAC pro laptop.
For Windows 7 you may need one the earlier versions. EasyABC 1.3.7.5 was running fine for me on Windows 7 but that computer has been nowhere near the internet for years.
1.3.7.5 still seems to be available at https://sourceforge.net/projects/easyabc/files/EasyABC/ I would be circumspect about installing anything freshly downloaded onto Windows 7 though.
I am using EasyABC 1.3.8.6 on Linux. Occasional glitches but not enough to go back to Win7 for it.
I use the online editor at
https://editor.drawthedots.com/
and store the ABC text itself in Windows Notepad .txt files - for auld lang syne!
I haven’t been able to get Easyabc to work with Catalina on my Mac. Since mandolin.net has gone down I am using this editor to upload, transpose and export to pdf.
https://www.montrealsession.ca/editor.php
I’m running EasyABC on a mac with Ventura OS (latest) and a windows box with win 11. It’s a little wonky saving pdfs on the mac version, but works pretty well.
You might be having issues because of the version os you’re running on your computer.
32 bit programs don’t work on Catalina. You need to run programs that are 64 bit.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208436
There are a number of online ways to edit ABC also.
I like abc pig. Very simple but works.
https://waterpigs.co.uk/pig/
I am using ABC Explorer most of the time on Windows and even if the look and feel is more like Windows95 it works fine. I have also no problems with Easy ABC on Windows.
I think EasyABC is the “standard” program most trad musicians use. I haven’t had any issues with it on my Windows based computers.
EasyABC doesn’t work with Android?
No, it doesn’t.
Have you tried my web-based ABC tools?
Try the ABC Transcription Tools here:
http://michaeleskin.com/abc
User Guide:
http://michaeleskin.com/abctools/userguide.html
Demonstration Video (latest 6 Mar 2023):
https://youtu.be/eVOLh2Z-GDU
